UPS said to raise offer for TNT Express to $6.8 billion: report
19 Mar 2012
United Parcel Service (UPS), the world's largest package delivery and logistics company, has reached an agreement to buy TNT Express NV, after raising its bid for the smaller rival from €9.50 ($12.51) to €10 per share, Bloomberg yesterday reported, citing two people with knowledge of the talks.
Under the deal that is likely to be announced today, Atlanta, Georgia-based UPS will hike its offer from $6.43-billion to $6.8 billion.
The potential acquisition would be UPS's largest in its 105-year history after it purchased Overnite Corp in 2005 for $1.2 billion.
On March 16, TNT Express, Europe's second-largest package-delivery company said that it was still in talks with UPS (See: UPS still in talks with TNT Express on $6.43-bn takeover) after turning down its €9 a share offer on 11 February.
Buying the Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based company, will give UPS a stronghold in Europe, China, Russia, Brazil and India, most of which have high growth potential. It would put UPS on par with Europe's market leader DHL- a unit of Germany's Deutsche Post AG.
TNT Express holds a 9.6-per cent market share in Europe, while UPS holds 7.7 per cent, bring the combined stake to 17.3 per cent and nearly on par with DHL, which holds a 17.6 per cent market share.